Sunday, May 24, 2009

Everybody cut loose!

This Wednesday night the Carriage Works plays host to the very first Wrong Prom– 'where good music and daggy dancing collide'. Wrong Prom is essentially a giant dance class with instructors from Urban Dance Centre teaching you the wrongest dance moves from you favourite classic movies - with this week's theme for Wrong Prom #1 being Footloose.Being a dance class, they suggest a few tips for what to wear, including spandex, heels, legwarmers and Dance Reeboks. So here's a little Footloose inspired fashion guide for all of us who are heading to Wrong Prom this Wednesday night...

Check out the opening credits for the movie. If you'd forgotten, it's a bunch of shots of feet, dancing. And hidden amongst those feet are some great ideas for costumes. Legwarmers, Nikes, loafers and heels - these credits pretty much lay the perfect foundation for an amazing outfit.Although there seems to be a lot of Chuck-styles floating around in Footloose - I'd prefer to opt for a pair of classic 80s dancing shoes - The Reebok Freestyle.I personally wouldn't go for the crazy colours to create my Footloose look. A pair of fresh white Freestyles would be perfect. Funnily enough, Rebel Sport currently has plain black or plain white Freestyles like the ones below for about $120.Next up - no Footloose outfit would be complete without legwarmers. There was an array of legwarmers featured in the Footloose opening credits - everything from plain colours to rainbows.I'm loving the steez above, teaming 2 pairs of legwarmers with Nikes. I haven't found anywhere to get striped legwarmers yet, but you can pick up legwarmers in single colours from American Apparel in Darlinghurst for about $26 a pair. You probably want to get 2 pairs and layer those babies on top of each other for maximum impact.Now I'm going to borrow a little bit of something-something from another classic 80s dance movie.Alex Owen (Jennifer Beals) made a cut-up sloppy joe as hot as hell in the 1983 flick Flashdance. So there's 2 ways you can go about this one: go down to Lowes, buy yourself an oversize jumper, take your scissors and chop off the neck, waist and wrist bands. If you're really keen, chop your jumper off at the waist as a croptop and wear a leotard under it.Hey presto - you're one step closer to Footloose steez.Alternatively, if you're not so crafty or can't be asses, pick up this off-the-shoulder number (shown above) from Bardot for $39.95.On the bottom, there are a few options. Kevin Bacon seems to be quite comfortable dancing around in a pair of jeans so high wasted his lunch is well and truely cut. A pair of light blue high waisted jeans would work, but a pair of baggy tracky dacks or a hot pair of patterned leggings might be more comfortable to dance in. Then you just pull your leg warmers over the top. Here's a sweet pair of patterned Joyrich leggings available through Karmaloop for US$18.95 (on sale!).There's lots of awesome extras you can add to finish the look like sweatbands, headbands, scrunchies, high ponytails, crimped hair or even a little pair of running shorts over you tights. If you're hardcore, you could wear your gold chains and doorknockers - or go one step further and wear your g-banger leotard. Personally I think that might be drifting too far down the Olivia Newtown-John/Let's Get Physical path, but if you're keen, do it! Super Magazine recently ran the spread featuring an 80s fitness spread...Overall, I think Footloose steez are pretty fresh. I'm definitely down with legwarmers way more and I might even rock some for real - in the real world, not just at Wrong Prom. But I will definitely be rocking them this Wednesday! Be there or be square!Wrong Prom #1 FootlooseDATE Wednesday 27 May 2009TIME 7.30pm til lateCOST $12 (Over 18s only - ID will be checked)Food, snacks, cocktails and a gourmet sausage sizzle with be available all night